Hornby expands TT:120 with Black Five, Class 31, new liveries

Hornby’s April TT:120 batch is the clearest sign yet that the table-top scale has moved beyond a splashy launch and into a range modelers can actually build around. The company said the release included four brand-new tooling announcements, led by the LMS 5MT Black Five and the BR Class 30/31 Brush Type 2, both new to tooling in TT:120 and both offered in DCC-ready and sound-fitted forms.

The Black Five brings a mixed-traffic steam mainstay into a scale that, until recently, still felt experimental. Hornby said the model uses “expertly researched” CAD from its OO-gauge cousin, and retail listings identified new running numbers as 5408, 45315 and 45446. The Class 30/31 goes just as directly at diesel-era confidence, with Hornby saying it was “frequently requested at shows and on suggestion forms.” Retail coverage named D5502, 31270, 31237 and 31219. That matters because TT:120 buyers are not just collecting locomotives; they are building era-specific fleets with enough variation to make a layout look intentional.

Hornby’s existing TT:120 roster also grew broader with new liveries on the LSWR Terrier, LNER J50, BR Class 08, BR Class 37 and BR Class 50. The Class 37, still a “fan-favourite,” appeared in Transrail Grey and InterCity Swallow, a neat sign that the company is feeding established layouts instead of forcing owners to start over. The freight and passenger side filled out too, with new Pullman cars, Mk3 coaches for the Great Western pack, BR Mk1s in blue and grey, four-wheel coaches in LSWR and Isle of Wight liveries, YGB Seacow and YGH Sealing wagons, more HAA coal wagons, Touax KFA container wagons and new private-owner 7-plank wagons and vans. Retail listings also pointed to all-new HBA, HEA and MEA mineral wagons.

The train-set line shows the same shift. Hornby’s April batch included an LMS Duchess with coaches and a BR Class 37 freight train, the latter available as analogue or DCC Sound Fitted. That is the kind of packaging that makes TT:120 easier to enter, because it promises a near-complete train in one purchase rather than a parts list. Hornby’s own history for the scale makes the trajectory clear: TT:120 was first announced on October 10, 2022, after design work began in 2017, and the first sets, The Scotsman and The Easterner, sold out faster than the company could make them. Hornby later said the TT:120 Club had around 12,000 members in 2024.

Taken together, the April 21 announcement reads less like a novelty drop and more like a platform being fleshed out for real use. The Black Five widens steam-era reach, the Class 31 strengthens diesel credibility, and the wagon and coach additions make believable formation building much easier. Hornby’s 2022 TT:120 debut was described as the largest single investment in new tooling by a manufacturer for years, and this latest batch suggests that bet is still being turned into a working ecosystem.